Colour-Coded Grading: How to Make Marking more Transparent – Dr. Elizabeth Wells, Mount Allison University

Dr. Wells recently gave a talk to faculty at Bishop’s University on assessment and evaluation strategies, hosted by the BU Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC). Below is one of the many ideas she presented during her workshop.

Dr. Jessica Riddell,
Chair, TLC

If there is one thing we mostly agree on in the academy, is that we hate marking. In the hallways, in department meetings, we complain about this necessary and important task that always seems to leave faculty feeling less than enthusiastic. Why? Partly it is that marking is hard; we have to evaluate the work of others through a number of different lenses, trying to balance between fairness and encouragement. And, our students take their marks very seriously. A self-identified “A” student will feel deflated if they get a “B+”, even though we as instructors might feel that this is a perfectly respectable grade. There are ways that we can mark more effectively and more transparently, while still giving the students the support they need, as well as the honesty they deserve.

One method for assessment is “colour-coded” marking. In this system, the instructor gets away from the “bleeding on the page” that many associate with the colour red, and uses a multi-colour system that identifies different aspects of a paper that require comment.

Blue is used for everyday, quotidian elements like spelling, grammar, typos, etc.

Red is reserved for passionate “ideas” and is used to make comments, good or bad, about the ideas in the paper.

Finally, green is for structure, looking at the way a paper has been put together.

Passing over a paper three times might seem like a lot, but getting the “blue” out of the way, and not being further distracted by prose edits, really allows the instructor to focus on the important part of any essay, the “red” ideas. One aspect of my own marking that I realized was missing was commentary on essay structure. I spent so much time on the prose and the ideas, that I often neglected to address how the argument was made in a paper, how it fit together. Going over the paper three times forced me to consider all aspects of the work, not just the most obvious ones.

For the student, colour-coded grading is much more transparent and informative than a sea of red. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, and it convinces the student that the teacher has really read and addressed the material, not just put in comments here and there as it occurs to them. They can then see where they need to put most of their attention in the next essay. Does this method of marking take more time?  Marginally, since you go over the paper a number of times. But I have found that it is a much more meaningful experience, and with each pass over the paper, the marking gets easier because one is looking for one aspect each time – not being distracted by all aspects at once. Although this method will not take all the anxiety and stress out of marking, it makes the instructor – and ultimately – the student, feel a little better about the whole process.

Elizabeth A. Wells, Ph.D., IFNTF
Dean of Arts, Mount Allison University
Pickard-Bell Chair in Music
Founding Co-President, International Federation of National Teaching Fellows
3M National Teaching Fellow